One More Round with Anthony Wilson: Dawson/Pascal, Amir Khan, Morales/Limond, King/Mayweather, Lucian Bute, Margarito/Pacquiao, plus more...
by The Boxing Bulletin on Aug 18, 2010 4:30 PM EDT
in One More Round
Email
Print
The Boxing Bulletin welcomes Anthony Wilson to the team. Formerly of The Rumble, Anthony will be taking over the weekly One More Round column - so check back in every Wednesday for his take on all the latest boxing stories.
Chad Dawson lost his light heavyweight crown and his 0 to Jean Pascal on Saturday in Montreal. Fighting with little sense of urgency most of the night, even as his opponent built up a rather obvious lead, Dawson had finally turned it on to an extent in the eleventh round before an accidental headbutt from Pascal opened up a bad cut over his right eye. When the ring doctor examined the gash and ruled that Dawson could not continue the bout was stopped and went to the scorecards. Dawson, behind on all three judges’ cards, suffered a technical decision loss.
I worry that Dawson has a little too much of basketball player Vince Carter in him, in that they are both successful, supremely gifted athletes who seem to treat what they do for a living as just that: what they do for a living, and not much else. Just jobs; jobs that they happen to be extremely adept at, elite practitioners of, but still, just jobs. How much does it really matter to them?
That was the way Dawson fought Pascal most of the night, he fought like it didn’t really matter. It was strange watching someone being clearly beaten by someone they were at the same time clearly better than. After the fight Dawson said that he wasn’t worried about the loss because he knew he had a rematch clause. And I’m sure he would prove victorious, even be dominant, in a rematch, because he would be motivated (especially if he had a chance to regain his title, which I don’t think is guaranteed at all; more on that in a second). But the point is that, if that happens, it should’ve never gotten to that. That sounds like something Vince Carter would say. That’s not a good thing.
* * *
One of my favorite lines from the most recent installment of HBO’s "24/7" (for Mayweather-Mosley) came from narrator Liev Schreiber: "Hyperbole is merely a stylish way of communicating the truth."
In a related story, super trainer Freddie Roach, speaking to BoxingScene, recently said that he feels his star pupil Amir Khan would beat fellow 140-pound studs Devon Alexander, Timothy Bradley, and Marcos Maidana – in one night.
That’s an exaggeration, obviously, but the coach’s point is well taken: at the moment, based on recent performances, Khan does appear to be the class of arguably the deepest division in the sport. In his prior three trips to the ring Khan outclassed Andiry Kotelnik, ran through Dmitry Salita in less than one round, and in his last fight stopped Paul Malignaggi in a dominant showing.
Meanwhile, Alexander struggled mightily against Kotelnik earlier this month, winning a controversial decision in his hometown in a fight some observers felt he lost.
Bradley looked solid in beating Luis Abregu in a step up to welterweight last month, but nowhere near as good as Khan has looked of late. And Maidana had a very good night his last time out, a night that concluded with him knocking out Victor Cayo with a body shot in the sixth round, but well, Khan simply has more tools than Maidana.
The point is, Freddie Roach has good reason to be feeling good about his fighter’s chances against any of his 140-pound peers right now.
* * *
Writing for the Examiner, Michael Marley has recent quotes from legendary Mexican warrior Erik Morales (who’s set to face Willie Limond next month in the second of what he says will be a six-fight comeback, following a three-year retirement) regarding his three fights with former rival Manny Pacquiao.
During a Q & A session in Mexico with members of the media El Terible said:
I will say Manny is a great fighter but I look back and he would give me any weight allowance in our second and third bouts when they knew I couldn’t make 130 pounds. Pacquiao demanded weight penalties of $500,000 for each pound.
But, when I was right and when I was at proper weight in the first fight I showed who the better fighter was then.
I was the superior fighter and I had the edge in speed and in skills and I beat him in every department.
Morales, of course, handed Pacquiao his last loss when he won a unanimous decision against him in the first fight of their trillogy, before being stopped in the 10th and 3rd round respectively in the next two.
I wish we could have seen who would have won between these two in their primes, but it’s hard to figure because Morales’ best days were at 126, while Pacquiao’s best are happening now, at 147.
* * *
Don King is still trying to lure Floyd Mayweather; meanwhile, Marley writes that Pacquiao remains grossly underpaid in comparison to his American counterpart and implores promoter Bob Arum to make Manny the highest paid fighter in the game.
I think this is the difficult thing about King potentially signing Mayweather: it’s good for boxing, because King and Arum would almost surely be able to make Pacquiao-Mayweather a reality, but it’s bad for Floyd, because Don King is Don King. Mayweather has the best deal in boxing; does he really want to start getting raked by the likes of the Don?
* * *
Lucian Bute has been mentioned as a potential opponent for new 175-lb king Pascal, but Pascal’s promoter says Bute’s people are making excuses not to make the fight and that a fight with 45-year old legend Bernard Hopkins has been offered by Golden Boy’s Richard Schaffer.
Bute would have to move up a divsion to face Pascal, but I think Bute has his way with him. I also think Bernard handles the much younger man (Pascal is 27).
By the way, I loved this bravado from Pascal. "Honestly, I don’t think Bute wants to fight me. Right now, I’m the boss in town, I’m the king. I don’t need to chase Bute. If he wants to fight the king to prove that he is the king himself, he has to give me a challenge."
Guy gets one big win and all of a sudden he’s talking like Mayweather.
* * *
According to recent reports, Antonio Margarito has been assured he will receive a license in the United States and his fight with Manny Pacquiao is imminent. It will likely take place at the new Cowboys Stadium.
After reading Thomas Hauser’s in-depth look into the circumstances of the Margarito plaster incident and scandal, I’ve at least begun to consider the possibilty that Margarito really was unaware of the illegal content inside his handwraps in the dressing room prior to his fight with Shane Mosley.
I’m also beginning to reconsider the notion that Margarito is a mere punching bag and easy victim for Pacquiao. The general consensus is that he’s a shopworn fighter whose past success is tainted by the suspected usage of loaded gloves, but the only thing we really know for sure is that just a couple of years ago, it would have been unthinkable that Pacquiao would fight and beat the much larger Antonio Margarito. I feel like people may be sleeping on Margarito’s chances in this fight.
* * *
Chris Arreola badly injured both of his hands in his win over Manuel Quezada last Friday on ESPN2. Honestly, I hope he stays away for a while.
* * *
Rafael Marquez says that he will stop Juan Manuel Lopez before the eight round in their upcoming Sept. 18th fight. Maybe Rafa can duplicate the performance of his other brother Juan Manuel against Juan Diaz and take out the younger man, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Until next Wednesday…
For more thoughts on the sporting world, you can follow Anthony on Twitter.
6 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Good stuff, Anthony.
I tend to disagree that Khan appears to be the class of the division. He’s fighting guys who can’t exploit his weakness (durability), and I think all three of the fighters Roach dismissed have the tools to do so. Plus, that’s big talk for the trainer/manager of a man who’s been ducking Maidana like the plague.
Like you, I hope Arreola stays vacation. Ideally, a permanent one (and I used to be a fan).
Even by HW standards, it was dull to me. Arreola stopped throwing many punches after the fourth or fifth round (presumably because of his hands, but he also looked gassed), and Quezada threw little else but arm punches/slaps. The fact that every once in a while Quezada threw something with torque and caught Arreola’s attention just added to the frustration that I was watching two guys who would be much better if they trained properly.
I loved Arreola’s style during the Chazz Witherspoon days, so watching him now is a bit depressing.
Good to see you’ve brought your talents to this corner of the boxing blogosphere, Anthony.
Though, I have to take exception with your confidence in Dawson’s chances should a rematch materialize. Your characterization of Dawson’s inability to put the throttle down on Saturday suggests that the problem rests in Dawson’s head, and that upping the tempo in any rematch should be as easy as flicking a switch from “passive” to “aggressive,” before leaving Pascal bloodied and shamed.
Has it ever occurred to you that maybe Dawson’s inability to open up was as much about Pascal as it was himself? Pascal holds advantages over Dawson in hand speed, power, and durability, a trio that, stylistic considerations aside, gives him the upper hand should the two decide to exchange punches. Notably, such exchanges were rare on Saturday night. Neither man seemed willing to take such a risk. But even with openings at a minimum, Pascal managed to hurt Dawson twice, possibly three times throughout the fight. Which is strange, because so many seem to be of the opinion that Pascal landed nothing of note. There’s every opportunity a more aggressive Dawson would tear through Pascal, particularly with the straight left and the uppercut. But with speed and power on the side of Pascal, there’s also every opportunity that strategy backfires.
Whadup Ant – just thought I’d make a few comments.
Dawson did seem lethargic. I think Pascal’s speed and explosiveness had something to do with it but it did seem odd that a guy who is usually pretty busy just sat there for long periods waiting. Don’t count out the crowd factor. Believe me, having had two fighters lose title fights in Europe last year, I can tell you that a hostile crowd can play with your head. Dawson isn’t used to fighting before big crowds period, let alone big hostile crowds. He looked a little tight to me and I think once Pascal had some early success and got the crowd into it – it snowballed into momentum. I think Dawson fights better in the rematch – but if it’s in Montreal, that’s still going to be a close fight.
I think Khan is a monster. Having seen him upclose and personal – I know what he can do. It’s hard to predict how any of these fights between the young upcoming stars at 140 will go though because none of them have a ton of experience and none have even hit their peek. Bradley is the most experienced so I’d still put him on top but Khan’s length and speed will give anyone trouble. It would be nice to see Khan fight someone with a little heat on their fastball. With all due respect to Kotelnik, Salita and Malignaggi – there’s not a whole lot of firepower there.
I like Arreola but he’s clearly a limited fighter. He’s big and he’s busy at times but he’ll never be a top HWY or champ IMO. A fight between him and either David Tua or Odlanier Solis would be interesting. Don’t know if he beats either one – esp. Solis. Since Teddy Atlas has put the training wheels back on Povetkin (what a huge mistake they made bringing Teddy onboard) – maybe a Povetkin fight would be entertaining.
Morales makes an interesting point about weight. If you recall in their rematch – Morales was outboxing Pacman for the first half of the fight and then just seemed to slow down and Pac put him out in 10. If Morales was really dead at the weight, maybe he’s got a point that he was a better fighter when they met all things being equal. It’s amazing how Pac has gone from being life and death with Morales to completely dominating ODLH, Hatton and Cotto. Big ups to Morales and Marquez. Makes you really wonder why Floyd is so reluctant to fight Pac. Seems like Floyd’s style would completely flummox Pac.
I already stated my views on Margs at The Rumble. I’m not buying Hauser’s argument that Margs didn’t know about the plaster of Paris. I think Margs is still a solid fighter without it but he’s always been more of a volume puncher than a one-punch KO guy. It will be interesting to see post-Hands of Plaster how many folks he KOs.
I wouldn’t count Marquez out against Lopez. Lopez tends to hang his chin out there and Marquez can bang. I tend to agree with you that youth should be served. Age, three wars w/Vazquez and a lot of inactivity are all working against Rafa – but the last thing you lose is your punch. I would be surprised but not shocked if he caught Lopez and stopped him.
Good review
Good piece Ant. I really think Pascal had a better game plan than Dawson . What was odd to me watching the fight was that Dawson was obviously the more skilled fighter in the ring, but he backed off of Pascal frequently when it looked like he had him hurt. It was odd. Maybe Pascal’s speed and power caught Dawson’s attention early. He did stun Dawson on a couple of occasions.
As far as Khan. I’ll wait until he fights a style that troubles him and then see how he fairs. He hasn’t done that yet. Not sure about Salita, but Kotelnik and Malignaggi don’t pack knockout power in their punches so Khan didn’t have to respect their power in preparation. Out of the next three Bradley is probably the lightest puncher, but is work rate and conditioning has done in people with more powerful hands than himself. He’s also shown the ability to get back on his feet after being taken off of them by a perfect shot from hard punching Kendall Holt. Alexander put down Urango who had never been put down before, and we all know about Maidana.
Margs…the fact we keep speaking of him just reminds me that Manny isn’t fighting Floyd…
I think Lopez beat Marquez for the main reasons pointed out by Kurt. If it wasn’t for those factors I think Lopez loses. He was out on his feet against Matagwa in an endurance fight. And was put on his back in his last fight against Concepcion when he became careless in his pursuit. He still has mistakes that make him vulnerable, and is probably the reason I love watching him. He seems so mechanical and skilled like he was built for the sport like a terminator, but his flaws always show that he is still human.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
